We’ve heard rumblings of this date in our inbox but elected to wait until it was officially official to say anything – the HTC Rhyme is official and is headed to Verizon Wireless starting September 29th (not the 22nd like other outlets have been saying, the September 22nd is the first day of presales) according to releases. It’s the HTC Bliss we’ve all been talking about for so long now. HTC’s expected to make the announcement at their New York City event today.

Judging by the first press shots of this thing, rumors earlier this year hit the nail right on the head in terms of who it’s geared toward (women). A plum-colored device graces our screen alongside a host of accessories including that charm notifier that sounds so cool, yet so wrong for my tastes. You’ve also got that tangle-free pair of headphones, though we can’t tell if these are, in fact, Beats by Dre.

As for device specs, we’re getting a 3.7 inch WVGA mid-range handset with Android 2.3 and what looks to be HTC Sense 3.5. A 5 megapixel camera graces the back alongside an LED flash while a VGA camera can be spotted on the front. We’ll be sure to update you all with more information as soon as it rolls in. Be sure to sign up to learn more at Verizon.

[Update]: More details are trickling in from the NYC event. There’s a 1GHz (single-core) processor inside, thankfully. Another confirmation is that this one is 3G only – no 4G (though most people are willing and able to do without). Oh, and Target (RadioShack-operated) will be the exclusive third-party retailer for the device. Preorderers will need to put down $50 to claim one. As for other regions, it’s going to Europe and Asia in October.